Dual Panel1Afterward the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."
2But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since I don’t have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.
3You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir."
4Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you."
5Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that––too many to count!"
6And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith.
7Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land."
8But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?"
9Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three–year–old heifer, a three–year–old female goat, a three–year–old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10Abram took all these and killed them. He cut each one down the middle and laid the halves side by side. He did not, however, divide the birds in half.
11Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12That evening, as the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. He saw a terrifying vision of darkness and horror.
13Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years.
14But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.
15(But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.)
16After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, when the sin of the Amorites has run its course."
17As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
18So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River––
19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."